BELLEVUE
Community At-A-Glance
Lewis and Clark, in their search for the headwaters of the Missouri, were
among of the first explorers of present-day Bellevue.
The city began as a fur post established by the Missouri Fur Company in 1822 to serve as a central trading point with local Omaha, Otoe and Pawnee tribes. Bellevue received its name from early trappers who were impressed with the beauty of the view overlooking the Missouri River. In French, Bellevue means "beautiful view."
Ideally situated on the Missouri River with access to the Platte Valley, Bellevue became the hub for transfer of manufactured goods from the East and furs from the West. From the 1830s until the 1850s, Bellevue prospered.
It was Fort Crook, later named Offutt Air Force Base that spurred Bellevue's most rapid growth. In the early 1940s when Offutt became home to the huge Martin Bomber Plant, thousands of workers, both civilian and military, made Bellevue their home, doubling the population to more than 20,000.
Today more than 69,000 residents live in Bellevue, Capehart, Eastern Sarpy County and on Offutt Air Force Base. The population growth is primarily due to the expanding private sector economy. With the opening of the Kennedy Freeway in 1994 and later improvements to State Highway 370, Bellevue is enjoying a new building boom, as the third largest city in the state of Nebraska.
Residents find short commute times to workplaces in Bellevue, Offutt Air
Force Base and downtown Omaha. Site of the 1997 "Street of Dreams," Bellevue's
housing growth has increased tremendously. On the horizon are more than 2,800
single-family housing units and 1,900 multi-family units.
Business At-A-Glance
As the home to Offutt Air Force Base and STRATCOM, Bellevue naturally attracts
defense contractors that work closely with the base, including Northrop
Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and CSSS.net. As the third largest Nebraska community,
Bellevue businesses serve the needs of a varied population. Corporations
and organizations such as AmeriTrade, Bellevue University, American Title
Insurance, Omnium Worldwide, Bellevue Public Schools, and Wal-Mart are
some of the largest employers in the community. In addition, new commercial
development is taking place on the west edge of Bellevue as well as the
Cornhusker Road corridor, with several new hotels and commercial plazas
planned for 2006.
